Electrical clamp connector and connecting terminal

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to an electrical clamp connector and connecting terminal that, per pole, has at least two conductor terminal connections oriented in the same direction and an additional connecting contact on the opposite-lying side, which serves for connecting a countercontact external to the terminal. It is proposed for such a terminal to use the especially small-construction design features of a terminal that is produced from a single piece of spring steel sheet and a busbar rod, and to combine these with the new features that the busbar rod has one or two cross projections, which project through the free opening in the spring steel sheet and form the additional connecting contact, which, for example, may be constructed in the form of a socket contact or in the form of a plug-in contact.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to an electrical clamp connector and connectingterminal that, per pole, has at least two spring clamp connectors, whichare opposite-lying and mirror-symmetric with respect to a central plane,for connecting electrical conductors, in which the electrical conductorscan be plugged in from the same connection direction and by means ofwhich the electrical conductors can be connected electrically to acommon busbar in the interior of the terminal, the busbar having anadditional connecting contact, which is arranged in the central planebetween the two conductor clamp connections on the side of the terminalfacing away from the conductor clamp connections and serves forconnecting a countercontact external to the terminal.

Electrical clamp connectors and connecting terminals of this type areknown (see DE 94 20 097 U1). They are produced with one pole or multiplepoles; for example, in a multi-pole embodiment, several one-poleindividual terminals, each of which has its own insulator housing, arearranged in series and are locked together mechanically (see FIG. 4 inDE 94 20 097 U1) or, for example, in a multi-pole embodiment, severalone-pole individual terminals are arranged, in a known way, in theside-by-side receptacle chambers of a common insulator housing.

The aforementioned type of clamp connector and connecting terminal hasthe advantage that the electrical conductors are oriented in the samedirection; that is, they can be plugged in from the same connectiondirection into the conductor clamp connections of the terminal and, foreach pole, the terminal can produce an electrical connection to anexternal countercontact by means of an additionally present connectingcontact on the other side of the terminal. Such a countercontact, forexample, may be a terminal pin, which is soldered in a printed circuitboard and can be plugged onto the terminal.

However, a drawback is that the known terminals of this type require alot of space. In particular, the design width measured in the traversedirection to the central plane of the terminal is very large, because,for terminals of this type, the additional connecting contact for anexternal countercontact is arranged in the central plane between theopposite-lying conductor clamp connections.

Starting from this prior art, the problem of the invention consisted increating a terminal of this type that makes possible a very small designconstruction.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The solution in accordance with the invention is characterized in thatthe especially small-construction design features of a terminal that isproduced from a single piece of spring steel sheet and a busbar rod andis already known (see DE 196 54 523 C2) are combined with the newfeatures that the busbar rod has at least one cross projection forforming the additional connecting contact, this cross projection beingarranged in the region of the free opening of the spring steel sheet andextending through the free opening in the spring steel sheet such thatthe busbar rod is positioned on one side of the spring steel sheet andthe cross projections for forming the additional connecting contact arepositioned on the other side of the spring steel sheet.

In order to form the additional connecting contact, the busbar rod mayhave one or two cross projections. It is provided that two crossprojections are present, which together form a socket contact.Alternatively, only one cross projection may be provided, which forms aplug-in contact.

An especially cost-effective embodiment of the invention provides, thatthe busbar rod (as viewed in cross section) has a V-shaped or U-shapedcross-sectional form and, with its margin edges running in thelengthwise direction of the rod, lies against the spring steel sheet andthat the cross projection or cross projections of the busbar rod,starting from the margin edges of the busbar rod, project through thefree opening of the spring steel sheet.

The cross projections may be produced in one piece with the busbar rodin terms of manufacturing technology. However, it is also possible forthe cross projections (e.g., in the form of a socket contact) to beproduced separately and joined to the busbar as a finished assembly.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Further embodiment examples of the new clamp connector and connectingterminal will be described in greater detail on the basis of thedrawings.

Shown are:

FIGS. 1-3 a first embodiment example of a terminal in accordance withthe invention,

FIGS. 4-6 a second embodiment example of a terminal in accordance withthe invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIGS. 2 and 3 show a one-pole clamp connector and connecting terminal,consisting of one piece of spring steel sheet 10 and a busbar rod 11.

From the piece of spring steel sheet 10, a pair of leaf springs 13, 14are cut out mirror-symmetrically to the central plane 12 (see FIG. 3)and, together with the busbar rod 11, each forms a terminal site forconnecting the electrical conductors 15 and 16. The electricalconductors may have different conductor cross sections, because thecut-out leaf spring tongues 13 and 14 work independently of each otherand are joined together only via the two outer crosspieces 17 and 18(see FIG. 3) of the spring steel sheet. The crosspieces 17 and 18, inturn, are locked together with the busbar rod 11 in fixed position.

The busbar rod 11 is constructed with a V shape in cross section and hasa spine 20 (in the embodiment example depicted, this is the V-shapedbent part of the busbar rod) and two cross projections 21 and 22projecting away from it.

The cross projections 21 and 22 can make a slight spring movementrelative to each other and together form a socket contact 23.

It is essential that the cross projections of the busbar rod projectthrough the free opening 19 of the spring steel sheet 10 in such a waythat the spine 20 of the busbar rod 11 is positioned on the left side ofthe spring steel sheet 10 as depicted in the drawing (with theconsequence that the spine 20 is available for forming the conductorclamp connections for the electrical conductors 15 and 16), and that thecross projections 21 and 22 are positioned on the right side of thespring steel sheet 10 as depicted in the drawing and, in this embodimentexample, form the socket contact 23.

The socket contact 23 can serve for receiving all connector pins,terminal pins, or other contact pins known in the prior art, includingsuch solid (plug-in) electrical conductors 24 that (as depicted) can beinserted into the socket contact in the way of a connector pin.

FIG. 1 shows the terminal according to FIGS. 2 and 3 installed in theinsulator housing of the left half 25 of the depicted 3-pole plug-inconnector.

Provided for each pole in the insulator housing of the left plug-inconnector half 25 is its own receptacle chamber, protected by insulationon all sides, in which the terminal is inserted via a respective openingpresent in the left side of the plug-in connector half 25, after whichthe front-side opening is closed by means of a cover (not depicted),which, at the same time, has the conductor insertion openings and theconductor guide channels for the electrical conductors 15 and 16 thatare to be connected for each pole.

The other half 26 of the plug-in connector depicted in FIG. 1 is, in aknown way, a plug-in connector part, which, has a respective connectorpin 27 for each pole. In FIG. 1, the connector pin is formed by thestripped ends of solid electrical conductors, which are held in theinsulator housing in fixed position.

The plug-in connector half 26 depicted may also be once again pulled outof the plug-in connector half 25 if necessary, this being of advantage,for example, for the installer of lighting systems, because he canremove a single lamp that has become defective from the lighting systemby simple opening of the plug-in connector, without it being necessaryto loosen the electrical conductors 15 and 16 wired to the single lamp,from the plug-in connector half 25.

FIG. 4 shows a second embodiment example of the clamp connector andconnecting terminal in accordance with the invention, in which thebusbar rod 28 has only one cross projection, which is constructed in theform of a plug-in contact 29. For fixing the plug-in contact in fixedposition in the free opening 30, a lug projection 31 is present on theouter crosspiece 32 of the piece of spring steel sheet 33.

FIG. 5 shows the plug-in contact 29, which is plugged into the socketcontact 34, external to the terminal, for producing an electricalconnection. The design of this socket contact is known. It is alsopossible to use other construction designs in place of the socketcontact 34 depicted in FIG. 5.

FIG. 6 shows a plug-in connector, the two plug-in connector halves ofwhich, 35 and 36, are constructed in accordance with the teachings ofthe invention (compare to this FIG. 2 and FIG. 4).

What is claimed is:
 1. An electrical clamp connector and connectingterminal, which, per pole, has at least two spring clamp connectingterminals, which are opposite-lying and mirror-symmetric with respect toa central plane, for connection of electrical conductors, in which theelectrical conductors can be plugged in from the same connectiondirection and by means of which the electrical conductors can beelectrically connected to a common busbar in the interior of theterminal; the busbar having an additional connecting contact, which isarranged in the central plane between the two conductor spring clampconnecting terminals on the side of the electrical clamp connector andconnecting terminal facing away from the conductor spring clampconnecting terminal and serves for connecting a countercontact externalto the electrical clamp connector and connecting terminal; wherein theconductor spring clamp connections connecting terminals are formed fromone piece of spring steel sheet and from a the busbar which is in theform of a busbar rod; wherein two leaf spring tongues, each havingtongue ends, are cut out mirror-symmetric to the central plane from thepiece of spring steel sheet or are punched out in such a way that theleaf spring tongues each extend perpendicularly to the central plane andtheir tongue ends each end at a distance from the central plane; thematerial of the spring steel sheet being punched out between the tongueends, so that, a free opening is formed in the spring steel sheet;wherein the busbar rod is positioned in the central plane lying againstthe piece of spring steel sheet such that, in the area of the freeopening in the spring steel sheet with the tongue ends of the leafspring tongues, the busbar rod forms with the tongue ends of the leafspring tongues the two respective opposite-lying conductor spring clampconnections connecting terminals; whereby, for forming the additionalconnecting contact, the busbar rod has at least one cross projectionarranged in the region of the free opening of the spring steel sheet andpenetrating through the free opening in the spring steel sheet such thatthe busbar rod is positioned on one side of the spring steel sheet andthe cross projection or cross projections for forming the additionalconnecting contact is or are positioned on the other side of the springsteel sheet.
 2. The electrical clamp connector and connecting terminalaccording to claim 1, wherein the busbar rod has two cross projectionsin the region of the free opening of the spring steel sheet that jointlycreate a socket contact.
 3. The electrical clamp connector andconnecting terminal according to claim 1, wherein the busbar rod has onecross projection in the region of the free opening of the spring steelsheet which forms a plug-in contact.
 4. The electrical clamp connectorand connecting terminal according to claim 1, wherein the busbar rod hasa V-shaped or U-shaped shape (when viewed in cross section) and, withits margin edges running in the lengthwise direction of the rod, liesagainst the spring steel sheet; and that the cross projection or crossprojections of the busbar rod, starting from the margin edges of thebusbar rod, project through the free opening of the spring steel sheet.5. An electrical clamp connector and connecting terminal, comprising: acommon busbar; at least two spring clamp connecting terminals, which aredisposed symmetric with respect to a central plane, for connection ofrespective electrical conductors, in which the electrical conductors canbe plugged in from the same connection direction and by means of whichthe electrical conductors can be electrically connected to the commonbusbar; the busbar having an additional connecting contact, which isarranged in the central plane between the two conductor spring clampconnecting terminals on the side of the electrical clamp connector andconnecting terminal facing away from the conductor spring clampconnecting terminal and serves for connecting a countercontact externalto the electrical clamp connector and connecting terminal; the conductorspring clamp connections connecting terminals being formed from onepiece of spring steel sheet and the busbar comprises a busbar rod; thepiece of spring steel sheet having two leaf spring tongues that are cutout mirror-symmetric to the central plane from the piece of spring steelsheet or are punched out in such a way that the leaf spring tongues eachextend away from the central plane and their tongue ends each end at adistance from the central plane; the material of the spring steel sheetbeing punched out between the tongue ends, so that a free opening isformed in the spring steel sheet; and the busbar rod is positioned inthe central plane lying against the piece of spring steel sheet suchthat, in the area of the free opening in the spring steel sheet with thetongue ends of the leaf spring tongues, the busbar rod forms tworespective opposite-lying conductor spring clamp connections connectingterminals; whereby, for forming the additional connecting contact, thebusbar rod has at least one cross projection arranged in the region ofthe free opening of the spring steel sheet and penetrating through thefree opening in the spring steel sheet such that the busbar rod ispositioned on one side of the spring steel sheet and the crossprojection or cross projections for forming the additional connectingcontact is or are positioned on the other side of the spring steelsheet.
 6. The electrical clamp connector and connecting terminalaccording to claim 5 wherein the busbar rod has two cross projections inthe region of the free opening of the spring steel sheet.
 7. Theelectrical clamp connector and connecting terminal according to claim 6wherein the two cross projections create a socket contact.
 8. Theelectrical clamp connector and connecting terminal according to claim 5wherein the busbar rod has one cross projection in the region of thefree opening of the spring steel sheet.
 9. The electrical clampconnector and connecting terminal according to claim 8 wherein one crossprojection in the region of the free opening of the spring steel sheetforms a plug-in contact.
 10. The electrical clamp connector andconnecting terminal according to claim 5 wherein the busbar rod has aV-shaped or U-shaped shape (when viewed in cross section) and, with itsmargin edges running in the lengthwise direction of the rod, liesagainst the spring steel sheet.
 11. The electrical clamp connector andconnecting terminal according to claim 10 wherein the cross projectionor cross projections of the busbar rod, starting from the margin edgesof the busbar rod, project through the free opening of the spring steelsheet.